Democratic senators called on Kennedy to resign and accused him of politicizing federal health policy decisions.

Ahead of the hearing, more than 1,000 employees at the health agency and national health organizations called on Kennedy to resign.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s health secretary and a longtime vaccine skeptic, struck a defiant tone Thursday as he faced bipartisan criticism over changes he has made to reorganize federal health agencies and vaccine policies, telling senators that he is determined to “eliminate politics from science.”

In the testy appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, Kennedy repeatedly defended his record in heated exchanges with senators from both parties and questioned data that show the effectiveness of vaccines. In turn, senators accused

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